Deciding on a computer to run Artist can be complicated.

• Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP. It will also run on most Windows 98/Me computer though this is not recommended.

• Microsoft DirectX 9.0

• Fully DirectX 9.0 compatible graphics interface driver

• 256Meg RAM

• USB or Ethernet interface

• Better than Pentium III 800MHz

A Word about Performance

The performance of a PC is dependent on the speed of the processor and of the data busses with which it communicates to memory, graphics and disk drives. In fact these days the speed of the processor is a lot less important that the speed of the communications channel as you experiences with the internet will tell you. Laptop computers run their data busses much slower in order to conserve power and therefore are unsuitable for large DMX schemes in excess of 2 universes.

XP Performance

On a laptop XP looks very nice but this comes at a price. The cost is measured in graphics performance. For smaller installation this will not present a problem, it may however labour to display a larger system.

If the performance on an XP laptop seams laboured go to 'Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance Settings and uncheck 'Use Visual style on Windows and Buttons'. When you apply this change windows will now have the appearance of a Windows 2000 system but the performance will be greatly enhanced.